On Sunday 15 January, we were absolutely thrilled to welcome eight year-old Violinist Hermione Duan to Brentwood Cathedral, where she was joined by her violin tutor, Jennifer Christie and some other members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Roderick Elms (harpsichord & organ).     

Many of you will remember Hermione’s excellent performance for us in August of 2021; and we were very excited to have her and the players from the RPO back here again.

In a wonderfully varied programme, the players filled the Cathedral with music from Handel and Bach to Mascagni and Vivaldi.

Herminone, our young ‘star’ of the evening demonstrated not only her superb technical control of the violin, but also a really mature and heart-felt appreciation of the music.

She beguiled us with a concerto by Bach, followed by the Vivaldi double concerto, where she was joined by her teacher Jennifer Christie, and then as a solo effort again, ‘Spring’ from Vivaldi’s four Seasons.

After Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’ came ‘Summer’, played by Joana Valentinaviciute, ‘Autumn’ by Jennifer Christie and ‘Winter’ by Tamás András. These were enchanting professional performances, which made all of us realise what excellence we had just enjoyed from Hermione.

Graham Hillman